Millennium Development Goals

In 2009 nine countries were selected for additional support at the national level.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals with measurable targets and clear deadlines for improving the lives of the world's poorest people. To meet these goals and eradicate poverty, leaders of 189 countries signed the historic millennium declaration at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000. At that time, eight goals that range from providing universal primary education to avoiding child and maternal mortality were set with a target achievement date of 2015.

The MDG-F contributed directly and indirectly to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, with the main driver behind its work being the eradication of extreme poverty. The Fund adopted an inclusive and comprehensive approach to the MDGs, embracing the discourse on climate change as it relates to poverty while incorporating other programme areas that are recognized as prerequisites and/or mechanisms for MDG achievement. Our approach was guided by the Millennium Declaration and its emphasis on development as a right, with targeted attention directed towards traditionally marginalized groups such as ethnic minorities, indigenous groups and women.

As the table below illustrates, six out of the eight MDG-F programmatic areas addressed one or more of the MDGs and their respective targets, while the last two played an important contributing role.

*The target for this Goal is limited to gender parity in primary and secondary education. MDG-F took a wider approach, addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment as a requirement for the fulfillment of all the MDGs.

MDG Targets 1.A: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1.00 a day. *This area focused on cultural rights, social inclusion and its potential in stimulating creative industries.